Gemotions

The envelope was plain, unmarked, and addressed simply to "My Dearest." Clara's hands trembled as she pulled out the folded paper. It was from her mother, written in the delicate script Clara remembered so well. This was a letter addressed to her grandfather. Clara's mother had passed away several years ago. The letter was a letter of apology.

Clara had never known her mother to be sorry to anyone. Her mother was a tower of strength, a rock, always right. The letter detailed a disagreement, a misunderstanding, a childhood feud. "I was wrong," the letter said, over and over. "I should have been more understanding."

Clara felt completely adrift. She felt a rush of heat to her face. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them the room seemed to spin. Why had her mother never spoken of this? This admission of vulnerability… it altered everything. She felt like she'd stepped through a looking-glass. She felt a deep sense of wrongness.